TIKTOK has started paying users over a privacy breach – are you entitled to a payout?
Several Illinois residents may have received an electronic payment from TikTok but don’t worry, it’s not a scam – it’s the result of a class-action lawsuit against the platform.
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A class-action complaint was filed in December 2019 in a Northern Illinois District court by two mothers of young teens against TikTok and Musical.ly.
The complaint alleged that the social media platforms, “in a quest for profits, surreptitiously tracked, collected, and disclosed” the personal information and viewing data of children under 13 years old without parental consent.
According to court docs, the result of these “unfair” and “deceptive” business practices led to children being stalked online by adults.”
A settlement with the defendants was reached later that month and final approval was granted after several motions and “significant discovery.”
According to lawyers for the suit, the settlement will distribute $1,100,000 among the class-action members.
The lawyers are calling it the “first of its kind”.
“The settlement, which achieves compensation for the alleged unlawful collection of minor children’s personal information, represents the first settlement of its kind and is, therefore, a landmark settlement for privacy cases,” a motion read.
As of August 30, 2022, all case appeals have been dismissed by the court and payments are now being given out.
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WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR PAYMENT?
According to the settlement website, in order to be part of the lawsuit members must live in the US but aren’t limited to being Illinois residents.
“If you or your child used the Musical.ly and/or TikTok software application when under the age of 13, you may be entitled to a payment,” read the website.
However, it is too late to join the lawsuit as the deadline to file a claim to be part of it was on July 24, 2021.
According to the suit, members were told about the lawsuit “through media publications,” and across websites and social medial platforms in a digital ad campaign.
Distribution has already begun as of August 30.
“Settlement payments will be disbursed in the next 2-3 weeks,” the August update read and payments were distributed electronically.
ANOTHER LAWSUIT
Meanwhile, a different class-action lawsuit was filed in Illinois against TikTok alleging that the app violated both federal law and the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act.
The suit claims the app allegedly collected biometric data from users and gave it to third-party companies without consent.
The $92million lawsuit from that settlement will be distributed among class members.
While a judge approved the settlement, “it cannot become effective and settlement payments cannot be issued until all appeals are resolved,” said lawyers for the lawsuit.
It’s not clear, at this time, when these issues will be resolved, however, the deadline to file a claim in this lawsuit was March 1, 2022.
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